Hilchos Choshen Mishpat

Volume II : Number 18

Question:

A. Is it permitted for an employee to go on a diet to lose weight, if the
diet will cause him or her to be weak and will affect their job
performance?

B. Is it permitted for an employee to "moonlight" at another job if he
will be too tired to effectively perform his job the next day for his
regular employer?

C. Is an employee permitted to use business and office property for
personal use?

Answer:

A. It is permitted for an employee to go on a diet even for cosmetic
purposes. However, if the employee sees that it is preventing him (or her)
from fulfilling his duties to his employer (whether because of physical
weakness, or an inability to mentally focus on the work) - he must check
with his employer to make sure that the employer does not mind. (1)

B. It is prohibited for a worker to take extra jobs after he completes
working for his regular employer if this will result in his not being
able to perform his job properly the following day. Obviously, if the
employer agrees, or if he is working overtime for the same employer, he
is permitted to do so even if his daytime performance will be affected.

It is most definitely forbidden for an employee to do a side job for
someone during working hours for which he is being paid by his primary
employer. (2)

C. An employee may not use any of his employer's property for personal
use without permission from the employer. Therefore, an employee may not
use the office telephone, copier, or any other business equipment for
non-office use.

If the employee knows that the employer permits such use, even if only
reluctantly, he may do so.

If the employer does not permit personal use, but it's well known that
many of the workers use his property without permission when he is not
looking, it is still prohibited. The fact that "everyone does it" does
not in any way create a "Minhag HaMedina" (custom of that society) that
would permit such a thing. (3)

D. If the employee is unsure about how his employer feels about personal
use of business property, and is unwilling to ask him directly, he should
make the following determination:

If he has no qualms about using business property for personal use in the
presence of his employer and does not attempt to hide this from him, he
may do so. If, however, he is afraid to do this in his presence, or even
if he is uncomfortable doing so in his presence (and he does not know
that the employer permits this), he should refrain from using business
property for personal use. (4)

E. A worker is not permitted to pray at his employer's expense without
his approval. Therefore, a worker who has not yet prayed Shacharis and
has come to work should not sign in until he has completed his prayers
and is able to start work.

Mincha or Maariv should be prayed during a time when the employees have a
break, or else it should be considered a personal break and deducted from
the salary.

However, if the employer agrees that he may pray during work hours, or it
is well known that in this work place this is done and the employer has
no problem with it, he may pray during working time.

Sources:

((1) We should just preface this discussion by stating that regarding the
general question as to whether or not a person may diet for purely
cosmetic reasons, Rav Moshe Feinstein Zatza"l (Iggros Moshe Choshen
Mishpat Vol. 2 Simanim 65-66) has already determined that this is
permissible, and there is no prohibition of injuring one's self involved
in this.

The Rambam at the end of Hilchos Sechirus, quoted in the Shulchan Oruch
(Choshen Mishpat 337:19-20) states - "A worker is not permitted to work
at night and hire himself out during the day. He may not starve or
torture himself (through food deprivation) and feed the food (that he
has thus saved) to his son, because this is theft of the work of his
employer, since he will be physically and mentally weakened and will be
unable to do the work for his employer with strength. Just as an employer
is warned that he must not steal his employee's wages nor may he delay
paying them, so too the worker is warned that he may not steal the work of
his employer and relax a little here and a little there. Rather he is
obligated to be exacting of himself to work during the entire time
allotted for working with his full strength, as Yaakov Avinu stated
(Beraishis 31:6) "... with all of my strength I have worked for your
father!", and we find that he was not only rewarded in Olam Habah (the
world to come) for this, but even in Olam HaZeh, as it says (ibid. 30:43)
"And the man became very prosperous..."

(2) The Rema (Choshen Mishpat 333:5) states that it is forbidden for
teachers (or any other hired workers) to take second jobs, to go to sleep
late, or to eat food in a manner that will affect their ability to do
their work properly. Any worker who does so is considered negligent, and
this may be used as grounds to dismiss him.

Therefore, if a worker is interested in going on a diet, or because of
financial difficulty must take a second job, the original employer who is
paying wages for "quality" work is not obligated to suffer in any manner
regarding this. If a doctor has prescribed a diet for medical reasons,
the worker must report this to his employer, and they should come to some
kind of consensual agreement regarding this, based on the customs of that
community.

(3) Tosafos in the beginning of Bava Basra (2a D"H B'Gvil) state that
there are certain customs that are Minhagei Shtus (foolish customs), and
a person should not rely on them even at times that our Rabbis state that
"one should go after the Minhag HaMedina." Therefore, if all employees
embezzle from their employer, this is a prohibited and foolish custom,
and a person may not conduct himself in this manner.

(4) This determination is stated in the Shulchan Oruch
(Choshen Mishpat 358:5-10).

This week's class is based on a column by Rabbi Tzvi Shpitz, who is an Av
Bais Din and Rosh Kollel in the Ramot neighborhood of Jerusalem. His
Column originally appears in Hebrew in Toda'ah, a weekly publication in
Jerusalem. It has been translated and reprinted here with his permission
and approval.

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Please Note: The purpose of this column is to make people aware of Choshen Mishpat
situations that can arise at any time, and the Halachic concepts that may be used to resolve them. Each
individual situation must be resolved by an objective, competent Bais Din (or Rabbinic Arbitrator) in the
presence of all parties involved!